The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-07-07
Our Evening Sermon !

"Hell and destruction are never
full; so the eyes of man are never
salts fled Prov. 27-20.
The attempt to e stablish or demon
S trate the idea that man is ''by nature
sinner" seems harsh, and out of all
harmony with the preccnceived ideas
Of the great love which placed man in
a world filled with JOY and beauty.
So strongly has the antipathy to this
thought been among human beings,
that many have been stranded upon
the rock Of REORGANIZATION, in at
tempting to fathom, with the poor,
little, finite mind, the wisdom Of the
all wise one. Certain it is that man
is rarely satisfied with his condition.
He either aspires to something better
or worse. And it may be said, tear
fully, yet truthfully. that great ma
jority of mankind seem to lean toward
that reasoning-if we shall be permit
ted to call it reasoning-which sees
an emptiness of hell and destruction,
and seeks to fill the "aching void"
Who of us that have watched the
course of mankind for limited num-
Der of years, have not had abundant
evidence that hell and destruction
have never yet fulfilled the purposes
of the wrath of an outraged aud in
suited God? The straightforward,
Christian man seems to be rather the
exception, than the rule. Why should
this be true, in the face of all the ad-
vantages thrown in our way? For an
ineligible and pointed answer, see
the text.
Men drift into unrighteousness as
easily as water will run down hill. At
first the slight, harmless or thought
less act, next that careless, hardend
feeling which asserts an independence
concerning the affairs, or the opinions
of the world. The Divine Laws are
perfectly defined regarding this down
ward course and its ultimate punish
ment. The thoughtless or wicked
man who attacks fellow man far
above him in ali that goes to compose
Christian character, will rejoice in his
supposed success and rant, and rave,
and become foolish in the eyes of the
world as we'll as wicked in the eyes Of
the Lord. Fed by his own vanity, his
evil spirit will become so engrossed in
its work that it little needs the Divine
truth which hangs as a perpetual and
solemn warning above him. That
man who attempts to work injury to
his fellow-man without cause, will
surely find that the language of the
text is about right, and that Sol
omon was very considerable of pro-
phet when he wrote it. At the very
time when the wicked man is playing
his deepest scheme, his punishment is
as surely working out as though it
were given in printed in printed
docket of the great court were the
final Judgment is to be rendered con-
cerning the things Of earth.
There are abundant evidences on
every hand, in the pilgrimage through
this world, to convince the mind that
this is true. Who has ever passed one OF
those miserable dens that abound in al
most every town and village, and the
prime object of which is to make
men british for money, who has eve,
heard the carousal carried on there
who has ever learned of the misery
and degradation resulting therefrom
who has ever considered the Infamous
character of the business carried on
without thinking, and that without
wickedness of thought, too. that the
language quoted as the text was literal
ly true and timely? Who has contem
plated the Vaccinations of the politi.
clan, as he arranged the wires
against his opponent-or against al
possible opponents; as he spent hours
amp days, arranging all manner Of
trickery, then assured his competitions
that he was perfectly willing to meet
them on even ground; who has seer
the innocent look on the face of the
erratic young man who attempted tc
succeed with brass'where brains would
have dignifed the time and the work
and not felt that the language of the
text was excessively appropriate?
Not an hour passes in any mans
life, when he can afford to lose sight
of this solemn declaration. Why, we
have heard men, amid the solemn in
fuences of the love-feast or the class
meeting, proclaim in glowing terms,
at times borderingfupon an ecstactic
excitement, the great, ineffable love
which filled their hearts until it fairly
bubbled and gushed over, and we
would turn to some such warning de-
claration as that found in the text, as
naturally as we would consider the
law of cause and effect. We have
seen men measure out produce with
that close conservatism which bor-
dered upon parsimoniousness, and as
we considered that the measure was